Search
Log in
  • Home

  • Categories

  • Audiobooks

  • E-books

  • For kids

  • Top lists

  • Help

  • Download app

  • Use campaign code

  • Redeem gift card

  • Try free now
  • Log in
  • Language

    🇫🇮 Suomi

    • FI
    • EN

    🇧🇪 Belgique

    • FR
    • EN

    🇩🇰 Danmark

    • DK
    • EN

    🇩🇪 Deutschland

    • DE
    • EN

    🇪🇸 España

    • ES
    • EN

    🇫🇷 France

    • FR
    • EN

    🇳🇱 Nederland

    • NL
    • EN

    🇳🇴 Norge

    • NO
    • EN

    🇦🇹 Österreich

    • AT
    • EN

    🇨🇭 Schweiz

    • DE
    • EN

    🇸🇪 Sverige

    • SE
    • EN
  1. Books
  2. Suspense
  3. Thrillers

Read and listen for free for 42 days!

Cancel anytime

Try free now
4.6(15)

The Family Experiment : A dark twisty near future page-turner from the 'master of the speculative thriller'

'John Marrs is not to be missed' – Freida McFadden, bestselling author of The Housemaid

'Few writers do domestic suspense meets dystopia better than John Marrs' – Lucy Foley, bestselling author of The Paris Apartment

'The books of John Marrs have become a quiet phenomenon . . . Thoughtful, well written . . . and alarming' – Daily Mail

Some families are virtually perfect . . .

The world’s population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities and an economic crisis. A growing number of people can no longer afford to start families, let alone raise them.

But for those desperate to experience parenthood, there is an alternative. For a monthly fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch, accessing them via the Metaverse and a VR headset. To launch this new initiative, the company behind MetaChildren has created a reality TV show. It will follow its contestants as they raise a MetaChild from birth to the age of eighteen, in a condensed nine-month time period. The prize: the right to keep their virtual child – or risk it all for the chance of a real baby . . .

The Goodreads Choice Award 2024 runner up, The Family Experiment is set in the same universe as John Marrs's bestselling novel The One and The Marriage Act. A dark and twisted thriller about the ultimate 'tamagotchi' - a virtual baby.

'Speculative fiction at its best – original, dark and wickedly clever' – C. L. Taylor, author of Every Move You Make

'His best yet. Frighteningly plausible, gripping, dark, and so clever' – Claire Douglas, author of The Woman Who Lied

'Hurtles towards a chilling denouement - a truly thought-provoking, single-sitting thriller' – Ellery Lloyd, author of The Club

'Chilling, inventive, horribly plausible and brilliantly addictive' – C. J. Tudor, author of The Gathering


Author:

  • John Marrs

Narrators:

  • Clare Corbett
  • Clifford Samuel
  • Eilidh Beaton
  • Joshua Riley
  • Justin Avoth
  • Nneka Okoye
  • Thomas Judd

Format:

  • Audiobook

Duration:

  • 10 h 59 min

Language:

English

Categories:

  • Suspense
  • Thrillers
  • Sci-Fi
  • Contemporary science fiction
  • Sci-Fi
  • Utopias and dystopias

4.6

15 ratings

Nikolai

17/04/2025

Hyvä juoni ja idea sekä kerronta

Teemu

29/03/2025

Mahtava kirja! Löytyy jännitettä, juonenkäänteitä ja sadoittain salaisuuksia. Usean eri lukijan ansiosta äänikirja on erillainen ja mukava kokemus. Todella hyvin kirjoitettu kirja, jossa löytyy paljon ajankohtaisia ja monimutkaisia teemoja. Hieman vielä futuristinen teknologia ja gameshow asetelma tekee kirjasta todella uniikin.

To write a review you need to download the app


More by John Marrs

Skip the list
  1. The Marriage Act : The unmissable speculative thriller from the author of The One

    John Marrs

    audiobook
  2. The Vacation

    John Marrs

    audiobook

Others have also read

Skip the list
  1. Twice the Trouble

    Ash Clifton

    audiobook
  2. We Lived on the Horizon : A Novel

    Erika Swyler

    audiobookbook
  3. Tilt : A Novel

    Emma Pattee

    audiobookbook
  4. The Concert Hall Killer

    Jonathan Whitelaw

    audiobook
  5. 55

    James Delargy

    audiobookbook
  6. The Accidental Agent

    Alan Judd

    audiobook
  7. The Other Side of Everything: A Novel

    Lauren Doyle Owens

    book
  8. The Playgroup

    Jami Worthington

    audiobook
  9. Till Death Do Us Part

    Laurie Elizabeth Flynn

    audiobookbook
  10. The Safari : A Novel

    Jaclyn Goldis

    audiobookbook
  11. The Paris Affair

    Pip Drysdale

    audiobook
  12. The Quiet : In A Silenced World, What Would You Do To Keep Your Child Safe?

    Barnaby Martin

    audiobook

  • 3 books

    John Marrs

    John Marrs is the author of The Good Samaritan, When You Disappeared, and Welcome to Wherever You Are. A freelance journalist based in London, England, he has spent the past 20 years interviewing celebrities from the world of television, film and music for national newspapers and magazines. He has written for publications including the Guardian’s Guide and Guardian Online, Total Film, Huffington Post, Empire, Q, GT, the Independent, S Magazine and Company.

    Read more

Help and contact


About us

  • Our story
  • Career
  • Press
  • Accessibility
  • Partner with us
  • Investor relations
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

Explore

  • Categories
  • Audiobooks
  • E-books
  • Magazines
  • For kids
  • Top lists

Popular categories

  • Crime
  • Biographies and reportage
  • Fiction
  • Feel-good and romance
  • Personal development
  • Children's books
  • True stories
  • Sleep and relaxation

Nextory

Copyright © 2025 Nextory AB

Privacy Policy · Terms ·
Excellent4.3 out of 5